Ninety Die of Cholera in Somalia's Middle Shabelle Region in One Week

A cholera outbreak in southern Somalia's Middle Shabelle region has killed 50 people during the past two days bringing the death toll to 90 in the pas

A cholera outbreak in southern Somalia's Middle Shabelle region has killed 50 people during the past two days bringing the death toll to 90 in the past week, the area's governor said Thursday.

Two hundred other people with symptoms of the disease were receiving medical treatment, the governor, Nur Shirbow told AFP in Mogadishu.

"Some 50 people died in the past two days in Adale district," he said.

Somalia's transitional health minister Ahmed Sheikh Mohamud "Amore" reported Sunday that at least 40 people had died of cholera, mostly in the Middle Shabelle region, but the capital Mogadishu had also become affected.

"Three other people have also died of cholera in Mogadishu in the past two days," Amore said, appealing for urgent medical aid to contain the situation.

Shirbow said that the region did not have enough medicine to fight the spread of the disease.

"I need more medical aid for the people in the villages of Adale district," he added.

Cholera is endemic in central and southern Somalia especially during the dry spell between November and May – MOGADISHU (AFP)